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When the Storm Passes, the Rain Falls

March 8, 2012 by sue campbell

Nora wasn’t crying about Hoover. Her face showed worry, she would talk about it. She knew there was a chance he could die. But she wouldn’t cry. This went on for weeks.

The day we found out our cancer surviving dog ate a sock and would die without surgery, you could tell she was gravely concerned, but she trooped across the street to play Candyland at the neighbor’s while we went to talk options and she did not cry.

It’s not like she hasn’t seen us crying over this, we’ve talked about our sadness and explained our tears. It was like she was reserving judgement on how upset she needed to be, or maybe she felt the need to be strong for us.

That evening after surgery to remove the sock, when things started to look better for H-man, she said matter of factly, “I thought he was going to die today.”

“Me, too,” I said.

“Me, too,” Ben said.

Hoover has made a great recovery since then. Once he came home and started to seem like his old self, we got a report from school that Nora had a good cry during aftercare about Hoover. I was so relieved.

And it made perfect sense. She was doing exactly what I do. I hang on as long as I can, asking questions, analyzing  the situation, worrying, but holding on. Then, when I know enough to know I’ll make it through, I throw myself in Ben’s arms and cry it all out.

We’re not completely out of the woods yet. There is still processing to be done. Naturally, jokes are one way to do that. Gemela, our friend and Nora’s aftercare provider, relayed the following doozy Nora told earlier this week:

Nora: Here’s a sad joke. Knock, knock.

Gemela: Who’s there?

Nora: Three legged-dog.

Gemela: Three legged-dog who?

Nora: My dog has cancer.

Not exactly a knee slapper. More like a gut punch. But it’s all part of the process.

 

Filed Under: Big Themes Tagged With: it's another post about cancer, sorry

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What kind of blog is this?

This is a blog for PARENTS. True, the writer, Sue Campbell, writes books for kids. But this blog is for grown-ups. It has some swearing and would be super boring for kids. Except for the swearing.

The PODCAST is for KIDS and PARENTS. In fact, my twelve-year-old daughter is my co-host.

If your kids like Sue's books, send them over to suecampbellbooks.com where there's some kid-friendly content. EVEN BETTER, join the mailing list. You get stuff for grown-ups and printable stuff for kids. And sometimes there will be super ill-advised giveaways or coloring contests for free books.

MORE ABOUT SUE: She makes an ACTUAL LIVING from writing words and marketing books and lives with her husband, two daughters, six chickens and one messy house rabbit in Portland, Oregon. And yes, Portland IS that weird. She really couldn't be any luckier.

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